Sept. 6, 2014 --- heading north to Tillamook and Garibaldi train ride:
Today we took our guests north to see what the Oregon coast has to offer that way.  Usually when we visited the coast, we headed south because 101 stays pretty much right along the coast most of the way.  Heading north on 101 goes inland a good part of the way.  But there are a few loops off of 101 that do head to the coast.  But first---breakfast at the quirky Lil' Sambo's.  It's been a favorite place of ours every since the kids were little.

 Love the jungle theme.  The food is good and cheap, too.  No, it's not part of the Lil' Sambo's chain of yesteryear.

Heading north.  Today the temperature was more like what we expected for the coast---maybe 60.  Quite a change from the last couple days.  But with the cooler weather came the cool looking rolling clouds.

Near Tillamook we came upon lots of cows.

How's that for your high school's team name!  The fierce and mighty Cheesemakers!

We noticed a lot of the buildings in Tillamook had big square Hex signs hanging on the sides of them.  Coni said they originated in Germany.  They are to protect against witches and demons. The Pennsylvania Dutch put them on their barns. Especially if the barn was red because the demons like those best.  Now they are mostly folk art.

 We've been fans of Tillamook Cheese for about 40 years now.  It's the 44th largest dairy processor in North America.  The brand is strongest in the West but sells in all 50 states. It routinely wins awards from the American Cheese Society and other groups.

 In 1949, partnering with four independent plants, the Tillamook Cheese Factory north of Tillamook was built.  It didn't look anything like this, though.  Back then the cheese was made by hand.

We use to like coming here and watching the cheese being made by hand in huge long vats.  Last time we were here, they still had 1 long vat being done by hand to show the process.  We were a little disappointed to see it's all mechanized now.  At least they did have a bunch of signs up explaining the process and their history.  

 At the end of the self tour, there's a tasting table.  That part of the tour we still enjoyed!

Had to get pictures of Ken in the Tillamook Baby Loaf van.

And Coni and John.

 Now on to Three Capes Scenic loop.  Ended up turning on the southern loop.

But that was heading back towards Lincoln City, so we turned around and went back.

 We really didn't see much from the scenic loop today with all the clouds, plus the road was closed part way through, so we headed on to Garibaldi.  Love how they even decorate their trains (and we saw some buses, too) painted like cows.

 I had read about the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.  It sounded like it might be fun and we were there the last day it ran regularly for the summer.  They have an extensive equipment roster that includes numerous historic steam and diesel locomotives along with a growing fleet of passenger cars, and freight cars.  All of the equipment and track is operated and maintained by the all volunteer crew of the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.  Here's the car we started in.

Here's their totally open car.

 They also have an open car with a roof, which is where we sat on the trip back.

Again, the weather wasn't the greatest, so not much color here, but it was still fun.  

Nice little house along the tracks.

A lake by the tracks.

 Our ride was between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach.  The train ride was about 1.5 hours with a half hour stop in Rockaway Beach, for a total of about 8 miles rt.  The fare was $18/adult. 

Coming into the town of Rockaway Beach.

From the beach at Rockaway Beach---the only beach Coni and John actually set foot on this trip.

 Oiling the wheels?

The town of Rockaway.  We were amazed at how many people waved and stopped their cars to take pictures of the train or even took pictures while driving by.  

John taking a picture of the engineer.

 Me taking a picture of the engineer.  He drove the train back to Garibaldi backwards.

 more scenery

the rocks again.

battle of the paparazzi.

 coming back into Garibaldi.

Back at the car, we started our journey back towards Lincoln City.  Checking out more sights along the way.

 Finally found a picnic table at Clay Meyers State Natural Area at Whalen Island.  I loved our buffet picnics! 

One last stop---in Pacific City for some ice cream.  I remember when we use to bring the kids here when they were little and it was all beach and dunes, no stores or restaurants.   This was the parking lot of the relatively new Pelican Brewery.  I hear it's very good, too, but we had just eaten, so we went across the street to a little strip mall and got some Tillamook icecream from a little store there.

Time to get back to the condo and let Coni and John pack up.  Tomorrow they head up to Portland to spend the night before a very early flight on the next day.  When they were packed and ready to go,  we played a couple games of cribbage---which always gets more interesting with a beer or 2.